Biden Lays Wreath at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day

US President Joe Biden visited Arlington National Cemetery to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Monday, May 29, to mark Memorial Day.

Video streamed live by the US Army shows the wreath-laying ceremony on Monday morning. Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also participated in the ceremony.

Following the ceremony, Biden delivered a speech to attendees. “We are the only nation in the world built on an idea that we are all created equal,” Biden said. "We haven’t always lived up to it, but we have never walked away from it.

“God bless all those who gave their lives so our nation might live. God bless their families, and may God protect our troops today and always,” he concluded. Credit: US Army via Storyful

Video transcript

- Honor! [INAUDIBLE] Attention!

[STOMP]

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[BIRDS CHIRPING]

- Present.

- Present.

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["THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER" PLAYING]

- Present.

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[INTERPOSING VOICES]

["THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER" PLAYING] --so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

JOE BIDEN: Ladies and gentlemen, 155 years ago, our ancestors stood here and asked themselves what brought our heroes to this hallowed ground? What high motive led these brave souls, as General Garfield said, to welcome death? Today, we must ask ourselves, what can we do, what must we do to uphold the vision for which they lived and which they died.

Today, it's on all of us, all of us, to ensure that sacrifice was not in vain, to keep working toward a more perfect union, one where all women and all men are created equal. We're the only nation in the world built on an idea. Every other nation is formed based on things like geography, ethnicity, religion. We're the only nation in the world built on an idea that we are all created equal. We haven't always lived up to it, but we've never walked away from it. And today, standing together to honor those Americans who dared all and gave all for our nation, we can say clearly, we never will.

God bless all those who gave their lives so our nation might live. God bless their families. And may God protect our troops today and always. Thank you.

[APPLAUSE]